Blog Subtitle

Blog

Amazon Makes their Mark on Cloud Computing

Amazon’s foray into online data storage has existing industry rivals nervous. It’s Amazon’s plan to offer online storage at cheaper prices than the current companies do, through their subsidiary company Amazon Web Services (AWS). As an online retail powerhouse, Amazon has the weight and financial backing to change how things are done. This can mean even more companies and consumers switching to cloud computing.

This sort of service is nothing new. Any of the modern IT courses in Toronto already emphasize the role of the networks that underpin web based computing. What Amazon brings is scale. Currently, a large mix of government agencies and academic organizations, as well as corporate giants like Netflix to Samsung, are currently using AWS services. And it seems their client base will only move upwards. AWS plans on launching Redshift, their new data warehouse service, sometime in early 2013. The annual cost of the service can range from $1000 to just about $4000 per terabyte, a price range that most big and small enterprises will be willing to take on for a localized cloud space.

Whether you’re just starting in a business college or are an industry veteran, Amazon’s big move is something to pay attention to.

What is cloud computing?

An example of cloud computing almost everyone is familiar with is email. When you log into your online service, your messages aren’t stored on your computer. Instead, they are loaded into your browser, and gone when you log out. Or, those who have taken web design courses will be familiar with web hosting services, which host a webpage for you and upload your files when you want to edit it. This saves running the server yourself.

With online web storage, the items you’d access online aren’t just old tax records and holiday photos. Increasingly, this is everyday computer applications, ongoing files or even your office to-do lists. In all these cases, data is decentralized, and getting your data involves being subscribed to a service. Taken to the extreme, a computer is simply an online access terminal!